Manchester United goalkeeping great Peter Schmeichel says Anders Lindegaard is not good enough to join club

Manchester United have agreed a £4m deal in principle to sign Denmark
international goalkeeper Anders Lindegaard in January but Old Trafford
goalkeeping legend Peter Schmeichel insists his compatriot is not good
enough to replace Edwin van der Sar.

Not impressed: former Manchester United goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel doesn't believe Anders Lindegaard is of United classPhoto: GETTY IMAGES

9:26AM GMT 19 Nov 2010

United are close to completing a move for Lindegaard in the New Year but Schmeichel has voiced his doubts over the 26-year-old who currently plays for Norwegian club Aalesunds FK.

“I don’t believe it for a minute,” Schmeichel said when asked about the proposed move. With Van der Sar expected to retire at the end of the season Schmeichel insists that, despite the difficulty of such a move, Sir Alex Ferguson should instead be looking to recruit the more established Pepe Reina of Liverpool.

“We are talking about Manchester United here,” said Schmeichel. “You can look at talent, you can look at young good players, [but] you don’t want that, you want someone who can go in straight away and give performances in 80 per cent of the games that the number one choice goalkeeper will play for Manchester United.

“Too many goalkeepers have been through, in and out of the doors at Manchester United, and the general perception is, for this team to play well and win trophies, that position has to be [filled by] someone who is of the very, very highest quality but also the right experience.”

Lindegaard’s career to date has been fairly innocuous. Having signed for Aalesunds on an initial loan he was rewarded for some excellent performances with a long-term contract and has since replaced Thomas Sorensen in the national team, winning four caps.

However, in six years at previous club Odense he never managed to secure a regular starting position and his leaving the club was in part a consequence of the arrival of Roy Carroll, who himself failed to make the grade at Old Trafford.

Lindegaard is an imposing physical presence, much like Schmeichel was, standing at 6ft 4in and strong in the air. He has been watched a number of times by United’s goalkeeping coach, Eric Steele, and his reports are believed to have convinced Ferguson that the player has what it takes to prosper at United.

The Aalesunds chief executive, Henrik Hoff, and chairman Bjarne Haagensen are in England this week to conclude the deal. Lindegaard, should the formalities be completed, would initially be cover for Van der Sar but with the former Ajax and Juventus goalkeeper coming to the end of his career the need for United to sign a player who can quickly step up to be his replacement is paramount.

Ben Foster has been sold to Birmingham City and Tomasz Kuszczak has never seized his chance to convince Ferguson that he should take over the gloves when Van der Sar does leave.

It is not inconceivable that United will make a further goalkeeping recruitment either in January or, more probably, the summer, with David De Gea, Atlético Madrid’s Spain Under-21 international, also on Ferguson’s radar.

Manuel Neuer, the Germany international, is another option, though a substantial sum would need to be paid to Schalke 04 to facilitate a deal.